


Match in the Rain

by unus_annus_eilish



Series: These Two Windows (crankiplier) [1]
Category: Unus Annus - Fandom, Video Blogging RPF, Who Killed Markiplier? (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Beta Read, Bob comforts Ethan, Cliffhangers, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Mark ignores Ethan, Miscommunication, Not Happy, Notes, Out of Character, Phone Calls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:00:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24783508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unus_annus_eilish/pseuds/unus_annus_eilish
Summary: It's been months since Mark and Ethan have talked, despite living together and still technically dating. Ethan doesn't want to give up but can't help but feel like it's intentional.
Relationships: Mark Fischbach & Ethan Nestor, Mark Fischbach/Ethan Nestor
Series: These Two Windows (crankiplier) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1792552
Comments: 19
Kudos: 117





	Match in the Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my latest angsty fic! I'm trying to work on a collection based off of all the songs from 'These Two Windows' by Alec Benjamin, and am currently working on 12 fics. Feel free to request something though.

Mark had always been a bit of a work-aholic, but lately he’s simply trying too hard.

Ethan knew that Mark was just trying to produce the best content he could- that’s what he’s always done- but he can’t help but feel like Mark is purposely avoiding him these days.

Ethan gets in bed at 10:00 and stays awake until 12:00 every night, but Mark is never in bed when he falls asleep and he’s never there when Ethan gets up at 8:00 every morning.

They don’t eat breakfast together, Mark is already recording or streaming by the time Ethan is downstairs. They don’t eat lunch together because Mark has already ordered food and eaten it. He orders Ethan something every time, but there’s always just something wrong with it. Ethan eats alone. They don’t eat dinner together because Ethan films when Mark eats dinner. Ethan eats at 8:00, but Mark is already back in his office recording, editing, or making a thumbnail.

And the cycle continues endlessly. They record no more than 3 Unus Annus videos at a time before they split up again. Ethan wishes that Mark would pay attention to him a little more often than he does, but he doesn’t want to make him mad.

He hopes Mark isn’t doing this intentionally. He sits in his office silently. He can hear Mark yelling at Bob and Wade but he doesn’t know what he’s saying. They’ve been recording for hours. Mark was supposed to film with Ethan. He’s an hour late.

Ethan knows that any sensible person in his situation would talk to their partner, but neither him or Mark have ever been sensible. Sometimes, it doesn’t bother him that much. Other times he feels like he’s the only one who’s trying to save their relationship and he should just give up. But he doesn’t want to.

For the first time in a while, Ethan cries about it. It’s raining outside and he wishes that he and Mark could just go sit on the porch and watch the storm, but he’s being ignored. It’s beginning to feel intentional.

He feels like his struggle is futile. He wants to get Mark back, but he’s not a fixed point either. He just wants to know what Mark is thinking. Does he know how Ethan feels?

Ethan has tried his best in the past couple weeks to step up his romance, but if anything Mark has ignored him more. The flowers that Ethan picked out for him sat on the counter unmentioned for a week before they wilted and Ethan tossed them. The pancakes he made just for Mark sat in the fridge for a few days before Ethan gave up and ate them himself.

The first time Ethan cried over the situation was when he had made a cheesy note and slipped it under Mark’s recording room door. Mark had accepted his offer for dinner and Ethan was pumped.

When it was 6:30, the time that the note had said, Ethan, dressed in his Unus Annus suit, was stood outside Mark’s office door. He knocked softly but heard nothing but Mark yelling at a game in response. He waited a few more minutes before giving up and going back to their room. He took his suit off and put a large hoodie on, it may have been Mark’s at some point but Ethan didn’t want to think about that.

Ethan sat on their bed in a hoodie and some shorts for 2 hours, crying. He wished that as embarrassing it was, Mark would find him crying and know how bad he was hurt. But it never happened, and the missed dinner was never brought up again.

Ethan was slowly getting past the point of sadness over the situation, and was passing into frustration. He woke up at 6 the next morning, hoping to catch Mark before he disappeared for the day. Mark was already out of bed when Ethan woke up but he could hear Mark downstairs making coffee.

Ethan pulled a hoodie out of his drawer and threw it on over his bare chest and boxers. He thundered down the stairs, which earned no more than a glance from his boyfriend.

Ethan huffed, realizing that it was too early to fight. He grabbed a mug and the coffee pot, full of coffee just like every morning, except this time it was still warm. Normally Ethan would come down to some cold, leftover coffee that he had to warm up, but it turned out that getting up early had one perk.

Once his cup was filled, Ethan poured some creamer in. Mark sat at the counter with his laptop, he glanced up at Ethan every once in a while, but his gaze never stuck for more than a second. Ethan finished making his coffee and sat down next to Mark at the bar.

Ethan pulled out his phone and scrolled twitter for a while. Mark continued to read his emails. They sat there in silence for a full 20 minutes as they sipped their coffee. Neither of them said anything to the other, instead they just sat.

After a long, uncomfortable stint between the two of them, Mark got up. He rinsed his cup and put it in the dishwasher. He walked briskly out of the kitchen and up the stairs to his recording room without a word.

When he heard Mark’s office door shut, Ethan folded his arms on top of the counter. He puffed his cheeks and let out an unsteady breath. He slammed his head down into his arms and started to cry.

As he sat there crying, Ethan began to spiral. He wondered where they went wrong. He wanted to know if it was his fault. Most importantly he wanted to know if it could be fixed.

When the boys had started dating it was the most perfect relationship. They had thought, after years of pining and being super close friends, that they would be inseparable as a couple, as they were when they were just friends. But they had been proven wrong.  
Ethan knew that if he wasn’t going to talk to Mark he needed to talk to somebody. He didn’t want to make a call in the living room, so he grabbed his coffee mug and stalked up the stairs. Walking past Mark’s recording room, he could hear the classic intro. Mark hadn’t changed since he had started ignoring Ethan, he was just pretending Ethan wasn’t there.

Ethan also knew that Mark never did his intro when he was collaborating with Bob or Wade anymore, which meant that one of them was probably available. Ethan pulled out his phone, Wade was streaming but Bob wasn’t.

Ethan closed twitch and went to his contacts he clicked Bob’s name and called. When Bob answered, Ethan let out a sigh of relief. Bob asked him what was wrong, but he couldn’t explain it without breaking down crying.

Bob tried to understand but he couldn’t. Ethan was having trouble getting his words out and Bob couldn’t figure out what he was trying to say. Ethan cried for a while and Bob consoled him. Eventually, Ethan managed to stop crying as hard as he had been, and Bob began to make out some of the words.

When he was finished, Bob was puzzled. To his knowledge up until this point, he, along with everyone else, thought that Ethan and Mark were doing great. He had never known Mark to hold grudges, and had never heard of him not directly stating his issue with someone. Everyone knew that Mark was a very blunt and honest person, never afraid of telling people the truth, even when it hurt.

But there was nothing. No clues, no hints, no tells. Bob hadn’t noticed that Mark streamed longer than he said he could. His banter was no different than normal, his schedule was consistent. He was perfectly fine and sociable with everyone around him except his boyfriend. It was absolutely puzzling, and absolutely not a conversation anyone wants to have with Mark, ever.

Accusing Mark of not caring about the people around him would be the end of the world. He would feel bad ultimately, but would fight anyone who suggested it. Being supportive of his friends and their personal lives was something Mark strived to do perfectly, although Bob agreed that this was almost definitely on purpose.

So Bob promised to talk to Mark about it. He wouldn’t directly ask Mark about it, just ask about their relationship like a friend.

Around the time when Ethan’s phone call with Bob ended, Mark started to do his intro. What had once been Ethan’s favorite feature of the house, being able to hear Mark’s enthusiasm through the thin walls, was now hurting him. He felt like crying again but didn’t want to.

He did anyway.

Hours later Ethan received a string of texts from Bob. He was informed that Mark avoided talking about their relationship, instead nodding every once in a while and turning the questions back onto Bob. According to Bob, when he brought up some small things in Ethan’s recent videos and asked if Ethan was doing okay, Mark shrugged.

None of this was reassuring. But one question still remained.

If Mark was so done with Ethan, why didn’t he just dump him?

Ethan pondered this question day and night for weeks. He and Mark only talked in passing occasionally and while filming Unus Annus videos. Mark’s jokes had gotten meaner and more personal. Ethan tried to jokingly show Mark that he loved him, but Mark only got meaner.

Ethan cried almost daily now, granted, he had a lot of time alone. His channel was dying, his schedule was crap, he never streamed, and only stalked on Twitter. Mark and Ethan filmed Unus Annus videos from separate rooms. They made separate videos one day and posted them at the same time. Unus and Annus were pitted against each other, Mark re-blogged memes of people making fun of Ethan. Annus-es were named superior, Mark continued to insult Ethan and Unus-es. Ethan cried.

Videos faltered. The tension was high. Laughs were fake, jokes were scripted. Content was low and short, they knocked out 7 videos in 2 hours and didn’t record with each other again for the rest of the week.

Important discussions were made short on sticky notes. Ethan wrote loving notes that disappeared hours after they were put on the fridge. Later they were replaced by small checklists of things Mark needed Ethan to do.

The first time this happened, the list read ‘think of 4 video ideas please. Make thumbnails for the painting, dance, and meme videos. Get Milk and eggs. I’m streaming until 7:30 tonight.’

As the notes continued they got shorter and less personal,‘Busy until 8. Out of bread. Need video ideas.’

Bob had made no progress in figuring out why Mark was being rude. Eventually he broke the hard truth that Ethan was going to need to talk to Mark himself. It had been months since the last time they had an unscripted, genuine conversation. Most people would have gone crazy or broken up at this point, but Mark was too busy to even be broken up with.

Ethan left their bedroom and went to his office. He sat down at the desk. Mark was screaming at something. Ethan almost cried. He pulled a stack of sticky notes out of his desk drawer. He grabbed a pencil from the cup on top of the desk.

Scrawled out in his loopy cursive, which he used only for serious situations, Ethan wrote a note to Mark. ‘Meet me on the front porch at 8:30 tonight,’ it read. Ethan also added a few small hearts around the letters to make it more pleasant. He hadn’t been hugged, kissed, or told he was loved by his boyfriend in nearly two months but didn’t love him any less.

Maybe people would say their relationship was toxic, but Ethan knew it wasn’t. They were there for each other if they really needed it, they were just both so extra and stubborn they didn’t want to be the first to talk. Even when Ethan was upset, he still wanted Mark to notice. And if Ethan would have brought it up to Mark, things would have changed, but Mark’s channel was growing more steadily than it had in years. His content was more consistent and funny and Mark was happier than ever.  
Ethan went downstairs and put the note on the fridge, He went back up the stairs to wait and get some work done for once. After a few hours his phone buzzed. Mark had texted him. All it said was ‘ok’ but Ethan was excited. He wanted to keep it casual, just in case Mark forgot or worked through their time again.

It was 7:30 and Ethan was nervous as all hell. He knew that there were a lot of things that could go wrong, and not very ways this could go right. Worst case scenario Mark breaks up with him and never talks to him again, ruining Unus Annus, which would ruin Ethan’s channel. Best case they just started talking again, Mark apologizes, Ethan apologizes, all is good.  
But Ethan can’t see that happening.

Ethan slipped on his favorite gray button up with shapes that people said made him look like a bus seat. He was already wearing ripped black skinnies, and he looked presentable. His hair was fine and he had his normal black glasses on. Somehow, it was already 7:45. Ethan decided to take the time to make thumbnails for both his channel and Unus Annus.

He went to his office and opened Photoshop, editing 3 thumbnails by the time it was 8:20. He wanted to get out early so the fresh air calmed his nerves. He saved the final thumbnail, got up, stretched, and went down stairs.

When he opened the sliding glass door, he saw Mark already out there. They made quick eye contact multiple times, uncomfortable and not wanting to be the first to break the silence.  
Ethan reached out and grabbed Mark’s hand. 

“We need to talk,” Ethan smiled sadly.

Mark just nodded.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> Request a fic or sign up to beta read by contacting me:
> 
> Email- holland.eilish.ig@gmail.com  
> Tumblr- @the-inevitability-of-death  
> Instagram- @unus.annus.eilish  
> Twitter- @cranky_lesbean  
> Reddit- @cranky-lesbean
> 
> Comments and kudos are much appreciated! I respond to all comments <3


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